Couch Critic takes a look at the third One Day Internationals between West Indies and India which takes place in Trinidad on Wednesday 14th August.

SETTING THE SCENE

We got pretty much what we expected from the second ODI. The rain made an appearance (but fortunately a result could still be achieved) and India dominated large parts of the contest.

In terms of our pre-game calls for the previous match Kuldeep Yadav picked up a few weeks but was upstaged by Buvi Kumar on the day. As expected Kohli comfortably managed a half century and Lewis was the stand-out home team batsman. All in all a very nice outing from our perspective!

LET’S TALK TACTICS

We remain at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain for the third and final ODI of the series. Since the first game was a wash-out this will be the series decider with the Windies still in with a chance of stealing a tied result.

Free scoring has proven tough in the islands yet as expected it has been the case that the Indians have been able to wrestle their way to decent totals whilst the home side just haven’t been able to notch up enough runs. Gayle has endured a tremendous struggle at the top which has been a big contributing factor to the men in maroon just never getting going. Roston Chase and Carlos Brathwaite did a great job in the middle overs in the second ODI.

HOW I SEE IT PLAYING OUT

It’s hard seeing this game going much different than what we’ve seen previously from these teams.

Chahal is not part of the test set-up and one can be sure that the leggie will get a go in his last opportunity in the West Indies. I expect him to grab his opportunity with both hands.

Sticking to the theme of slower bowlers enjoying some success on these tracks the Windies tweaker should be in with a shout. Chase doesn’t turn the ball all that much but I expect India to possibly only lose a couple of wickets and as such the price on the spinner looks tasty.

Rohit and Dhawan are usually prolific at the top of the order for India. These two haven’t quite hit their straps and with Shikar not part of the test squad he is another one whom I’m expecting to try and end his island outing on a high.

Best Bets with BETOLIMP:

Top India Batsman – S Dhawan @ 5.50

Top India Bowler – Y Chahal @ 3.90

Top West Indies Bowler – RL Chase @ 7.40

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change

Couch Critic